ARLINGTON, Texas - Lindsay Boomershine of Perry, Utah, spent a third of last season standing on the sidelines at Professional Women's Bowling Association events holding a clipboard and writing down scores.
That's your job when you are the alternate for match play at a PWBA event.
As frustrating as it was, being so close to a breakout performance each week also was motivation to work harder on the lanes and informationally, so she could make better and faster decisions when competing.
A year later, the 30-year-old right-hander is ready to officially exchange the clipboard for a trophy as the top seed for the TV finals of the 2016 PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open, which will air on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Boomershine secured the top spot with a 198-194 position-round win against 2015 PWBA Rookie of the Year Stefanie Johnson of Grand Prairie, Texas, and while many will remember the match for the dramatic finish that saw Johnson miss the 2-4-5-8 (bucket) in the final frame to lose, Boomershine will recall the consistent performance that got her to that point.
"You go into every week with a game plan and goals, and one of my goals has been to be more consistent across the blocks, which includes keeping the low games a little bit higher, so there's not as much pressure to shoot the huge games," said Boomershine, who had top-10 finishes this year at the PWBA Storm Sacramento Open and United States Bowling Congress Queens. "I was consistent in St. Pete and feel like I bowled really well in match play. I was very thankful that day, and I'm still very grateful for this opportunity."
Boomershine will be joined in the stepladder finals of the PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open by No. 2 seed Rocio Restrepo, a Colombia native, now residing in Louisville, Ohio. Restrepo outdistanced her own match-play group at Seminole Lanes to advance to the show.
Johnson went on to claim the third seed for TV by winning one of the on-site group stepladders, while Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, won the other to secure her fourth championship-round appearance of the season.
While Boomershine's hard work on the lanes, in her workouts and with her mental game are part of a never-ending process, she has a growing passion for coaching and helping others succeed.
She received a jolt of motivation during the Turbo Tech Collegiate Expo, which preceded the PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open and allowed her to spend time with some talented young competitors.
"The Turbo Expo really reminded me of what it was like to be that young and excited about all the possibilities in the sport," Boomershine said. "Growing up, I enjoyed watching players like Leanne (Hulsenberg) and my uncle (hall of famer Tom Baker) because they had unique styles and were able to win. I work hard to better myself and the sport, and it was important to me to be able to develop and show my own individuality."
Boomershine's personal style includes hooking the ball as a main strength, but with help from her husband, USBC Gold coach Hank Boomershine, she has worked to become versatile in her lane play. She also has focused on being as independent as possible when it comes to ball choices and making moves on the lanes.
During the 2015 PWBA season, Boomershine finished 17th, one spot out of match play, in three of the 10 events she was eligible for, and she was the first one out for the win/points-based 16-competitior Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship, the final event of the season.
Qualifying for the season-ending event in 2016 definitely was among the list of goals, but, at this point in the season, winning her first PWBA Tour title is the only way to make that a reality.
"You have to keep pushing and working hard and believing you can get there," Boomershine said. "It's not like 30 days before the season I decided it was time to get ready. It's a yearly process that never stops. I've been working toward this since last year, and I'm already working to be better for next year."
With each season, the routine of the PWBA Tour has become more comfortable. More experience and more opportunities to make the clutch shots have made Boomershine a more confident competitor.
Heading into the TV show, she'll maintain her routines, which includes not watching her opponents bowl. Instead, her mind will be focused on the things she can control in her own performance, or she'll play Tetris on her phone as she did during competition at Seminole Lanes.
"I just want to go out and do my own things and throw the best shots I can for 10 frames," said Boomershine, who has cashed in eight of her 13 events in 2016. "I don't know if I could put into words what it would mean to win. It would be a dream come true for me. Win or lose, though, this whole opportunity and process really has me motivated and committed to making the biggest impact on the sport I can."
The St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open is the last standard event on the 2016 PWBA schedule, with $10,000 going to the winner. The qualifying, match play and group stepladder portions of the event took place July 15-16 at Seminole Lanes in Seminole, Florida.
The stepladder finals were taped Aug. 7 at Stardust Bowl in conjunction with the 2016 U.S. Women's Open and the finals of the PWBA Lexington Open and PWBA Rochester Open.
Restrepo, who won her first PWBA Tour title this year at the PWBA Greater Detroit Open, will face the winner of the opening match between Johnson and Kulick, and Boomershine will await the winner of the second match.
The 2016 PWBA Tour season will conclude with the Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship at Uptown Alley in Midlothian, Virginia, from Sept. 1-4. The 16-player event will include all eligible champions from this season, and the remaining spaces in the bracket will be filled from the points list.
For more information on the PWBA, visit PWBA.com. To subscribe to watch the action on Xtra Frame, visit XtraFrame.TV.
